The present invention relates to a cable closure for housing junctions of cables and more particularly relates to a cable closure having a seal for sealing the ends of the cable closure.
It is frequently necessary to insulate and protect junctions in cables, for example electrical cables. In effecting junctions between electrical cables, for example telephone or power cables, on site, many problems arise in meeting the necessary requirements of continuity of insulation and earthing, of rendering the joint waterproof and proof against chemical attack, of mechanical strength, resistance to pull-out of the cables under tension and resistance to compression, flexing and impact. The means for protecting the junction normally has to provide mechanical protection, give overall electrical insulation, prevent ingress of water and other contaminants and, when the cable is a pressurized cable, be pressure-tight.
There have been proposed a variety of different designs and configurations for providing the protection required, many of which are satisfactory. However, all of them suffer from the disadvantage that adding or removing a cable is cumbersome and time-consuming. A further disadvantage of these designs and configurations is that changing the size of an existing cable is equally cumbersome and time-consuming.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a more versatile cable closure.
A number of closures have been proposed in which the end caps or seals are segmented and have various size apertures for receiving cables of correspondingly various sizes. Among these are Worden U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,623; Gillemot U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,072; Giebel et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,911; Giebel et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,259; Bossard et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,922; and Moisson U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,945. All of these suffer from a lack of versatility. For example, if one were to add a cable of the same or a different size, one would have to change the end seal. Or, if one were to delete a cable, then the aperture would have to be plugged (usually unsatisfactory for a fluid tight seal) or the end seal would have to be changed. Since changing an end seal requires disturbing the cable junction, it can be appreciated that such an operation is to be avoided if at all possible.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to have an end seal and cable closure that is versatile in operation.
It is another object of the invention to have an end seal and cable closure such that adding a cable of the same or a different size or deleting a cable can be accomplished without disturbing the cable junction.
It is a further object of the invention to have an end seal and cable closure such that adding a cable of the same or a different size or deleting a cable can be accomplished quickly and easily.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent after reference to the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.